Gathering sensitive information about higher-ups of a kingdom in half a month is difficult for ordinary people but very easy for a Golden Knight.
The king of Greenthorn only had one Great Knight in his service, and although many knights over the years had reached levels of power beyond that of a Great Knight, none stayed for long. Instead, those powerful knights either joined the Knight Association or left the region entirely to explore the unknown lands beyond. Greenthorn, unlike its wealthier neighbors, did not have the resources to maintain a full-time silver knight, leaving it comparatively vulnerable.
The entire region, including Greenthorn and other kingdoms like it, is surrounded by endless wilderness. It’s a dangerous and foreboding place, where rumors of monstrous creatures lurking deep within abound. However, those monsters never venture close to the inhabited lands, and this has allowed human civilization to flourish in relative safety. People have long whispered about the dangers within the heart of the wilderness, but few know the truth. What everyone does know, however, is that no one who enters the wilderness ever returns.
Over the centuries, numerous forces attempted to expand human settlements into the wilderness, but every attempt ended in disaster. One of the most prominent examples is the ancient empire, which controlled the entire region before it mysteriously collapsed. The empire had sought to clear vast swaths of the wilderness and build new cities, believing that with enough manpower and resources, they could tame the wild lands. But mere months after starting this expansion, the empire was destroyed. No one knows exactly what happened, but the lesson was learned: expanding into the wilderness is a death sentence. Ever since then, the kingdoms that arose in the wake of the empire's collapse have been careful to respect the boundaries of the wilderness, never attempting to push further into it.
Despite the danger, the mystery of what lies beyond the wilderness continues to tantalize adventurous souls. Over the years, many knights have left their hometowns to explore the unknown, but none have ever returned. Still, that hasn’t stopped others from trying. It is widely accepted that surviving even the outer edges of the deep wilderness requires strength equivalent to that of a silver Knight.
The Greenthorn Kingdom, while small and relatively poor compared to its neighbors, still held some strategic advantages. However, it wasn’t anywhere near wealthy enough to afford even the occasional protection of a Golden Knight, which was why Caelan, the Golden Knight, found it so easy to infiltrate it. He entered the city unnoticed, slipping through its gates without drawing any attention. He spent the next few days visiting various taverns, buying information about anyone significant in the kingdom. He wasn’t particularly picky about the information he purchased. Whether it was relevant or not, he collected everything available, knowing that even the smallest detail could prove useful.
After just ten days, Caelan had uncovered enough secrets about the kingdom’s elite that he decided not to waste any more time. The nobles had so many skeletons in their closets that he had more than enough to work with. He understood his lord's purpose and realized that what he had in hand was sufficient to accomplish the mission.
…
Leo sat in his study, reading the first of five thick books. These volumes, meticulously written by Caelan, were filled with dark secrets about the kingdom’s upper class—secrets that, if revealed, could, in theory, bring the entire noble structure crashing down.
"So, the king himself is actually the illegitimate son of Duke Leopold Grimscar? And the sickly crown prince... the result of an affair between the deceased queen and ... my deceased father? Does that make the crown prince my half-brother? The king hates the crown prince and has been poisoning him? Is this why the prince has always been so sickly?" Leo muttered to himself as he processed the information.
His eyes widened as he flipped through the pages. "Count Kingsley's eldest son had an affair with my former fiancée, Viscount Tristan Hawke’s daughter. It wasn’t my fiancée who cheated on me, after all. It was Count Kingsley’s son who forced himself on her, and the count covered it up. They leaked a false story about a consensual relationship to preserve the count's reputation. Incredible!"
Leo shook his head in disbelief. "I knew the noble families were corrupt, but this... This is beyond anything I could have imagined. Every single family is embroiled in scandal—betrayal, adultery, illegitimate children, and worse. Is there anyone among them who isn't rotten to the core?" He found himself wondering if it was possible that he, a man who had never claimed to be virtuous, might be one of the few honest men in the kingdom.
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"Caelan did an extraordinary job," Leo mused. "How did he manage to gather all of this?"
He began to pace, deep in thought. "Noble families... the least noble of all," he muttered under his breath. Despite his own noble status in this world, Leo had never truly considered himself part of them. In his heart, he still saw himself as an ordinary person.
"Blackmailing these people would be difficult, if not impossible," Leo thought, shaking his head. If there had only been a handful of scandals, he could have used them as leverage to blackmail the nobles. But there were thousands of scandals, each more sordid than the last. These secrets might be hidden from the general public, but the nobles themselves were surely aware of each other’s transgressions. They likely had no reputation to protect at this point. Blackmail only works when someone has something to lose, but in this case, it seemed that none of them did.
"My plan for blackmail is ruined," Leo sighed, sitting back down at his desk. He could release the information to the general populace, but he doubted it would matter. In worlds without magic, where everyone is mortal, overthrowing those in power is a near-impossible task. Once someone seizes control, it’s almost impossible to remove them from below. And in this world, where the nobles had knights of unimaginable strength at their command, rebellion seemed hopeless. Even if every commoner in the kingdom rose up against the nobility, they likely wouldn’t be able to topple a single baron, let alone a duke or the king.
"Maybe I should kidnap a few of their sons and daughters?" Leo pondered. But he quickly dismissed the idea. These ruthless nobles probably wouldn’t care about their children’s safety. If anything, they’d simply hire a Great Knight to deal with the kidnappers.
"No choice," Leo muttered to himself, "I’ll have to implement Plan B."
Plan B was defection to the Icereach Kingdom. Thanks to Rhovan, his magic teacher, Leo had gathered significant information about the northern kingdom. The combat power of Icereach and Greenthorn was roughly equivalent, but Icereach had a distinct advantage in its centralized power structure. While Greenthorn’s power was decentralized, with nobles hoarding their own private armies, Icereach’s power was concentrated in the hands of the king. If war broke out, the king of Icereach could mobilize the entire country, whereas Greenthorn’s nobles would likely withhold their best troops for their own interests.
Icereach had been searching for Rhovan for years, and Leo had anonymously informed them that Rhovan was alive. The mage was of great importance to Icereach, as he was the first talented apprentice mage to appear in a long time. With the kingdom’s support, Rhovan had advanced to a second-grade apprentice in just two years. Leo knew offering Rhovan’s return could buy him the protection he needed from Icereach.
The only reason Leo wanted to prevent an invasion from Greenthorn was to avoid exposing his Golden Knight. By defecting to Icereach, Leo hoped to shield himself from Greenthorn’s aggression. If Greenthorn attacked him after the defection, it would be seen as an attack on Icereach, potentially starting a war between the two kingdoms.
"I wish I had mind-control powers," Leo sighed. His knights were strong, but their abilities were limited. They could fight, but they couldn’t manipulate the minds of others.
"Maybe I should kidnap an official mage and force them to use mind control on the nobles," Leo considered. But he quickly discarded the idea. Official mages were as powerful as Great Knights and usually affiliated with major academies. If one went missing, it would raise too many questions.
"Let’s stick with Plan B," Leo decided. "The Icereach defection plan is the best option."
However, there was still the issue of Rhovan. Leo couldn’t let him leave, as he knew too much. "Should I go with Plan B1 or B2?" he mused. "Plan B1 it is."
Plan B1 involved convincing Rhovan to stay "willingly," while Plan B2 was more drastic, involving a threat to kill Rhovan if Icereach didn’t agree to Leo’s demands. Over the past year, Leo had managed to manipulate Rhovan into a position of dependency. The mage now feared disobeying Leo, and if Leo asked him to stay, Rhovan would have no choice but to comply.
"It’s settled," Leo thought, satisfied with his decision.
…
Everything went smoothly. Icereach agreed to Leo’s defection plan and officially declared Baron Fitzroy’s territory part of its kingdom. Greenthorn was furious, but it couldn’t afford to act recklessly. The baron’s land was too small to risk a full-scale war. Besides, Icereach was stronger, and everyone knew it.
Greenthorn’s nobles had no desire to fight a war they couldn’t win. Still, they couldn’t simply accept the loss of territory without a response. Doing so would make them look weak to other neighboring kingdoms. So, they entered into negotiations with Icereach. After several months of talks, the two kingdoms reached an agreement: Icereach would transfer land from another region to Greenthorn in exchange for Fitzroy’s territory. This allowed Greenthorn to save face, as they could now claim that the land exchange was a mutual agreement rather than an annexation.
Icereach expected Rhovan, who was released, to return to the academy; however, to their surprise, Rhovan returned to Baron Fitzroy’s territory. He only spent a brief time in the capital of Icereach before returning. During his stay, Rhovan spoke highly of Leo, praising his intelligence and talent, which piqued the interest of many within Icereach’s court.